There is a zip line course at Loterie Farm near the high point of St. Maarten. Julie and Wayne have ‘zipped’ before and while it sounded like (dangerous) fun, we decided that hiking was more our style. Julie opted to read a book on the beach and Steve, Wayne and I set off for the jungle.

It was hot and humid and sort of jungle-y.

It was uphill mostly going in, and downhill mostly going out. In some spots it was very rocky. I’m not sure how far we hiked but we all felt like we had accomplished something when it was over.

There used to be a sugar plantation on the property and this is a ruin of a well…

This was one of the overlooks on the trail…

We got to the top and were stopped by this gate. We did not try ringing Nils Larsen, the name by the buzzer, to see if he’d let us in.

The view beyond the gate:

I got the guys to stand by this blue pole…

And then I got them to strike a pose. Wayne and Steve were very good sports about the whole photo thing.

The trail back down started here, just to the right of the concrete wall. Look close and you can see the arrows pointing us down the trail.

It started to rain as we walked the trail out. We spotted a monkey who didn’t seem to mind us but took off when the thunder started and the rain began to fall in earnest.

And that was the end of the hike picture taking!